weekend round up

Friday has unofficially become DTLA date night and I’m loving it. By the time Friday night rolls around I’m 50% excited and 50% exhausted. So doing something low key with the boy is a perfect solution. This Friday before date night we literally dragged ourselves to Crossfit for a workout. We almost opted for happy hour instead, so I will give myself public kudos for the good decision. After we ventured to Little Tokyo for dinner at Enya Sushi. It was our first time there and we enjoyed it. According to Steve the sushi was good. I hate all things fish and It’s kind of hard to mess up an avocado roll, so you will have to take his word for it. The night ended glamorously: We I watched This is 40 while Steve fell asleep on the couch.

Saturday morning was idyllic- featuring a large latte and a massage at a local massage place, the emperory. After I headed to Santa Monica for a friend’s birthday. After some good times at Big Dean’s near the pier, we ended up at the Bungalow for the rest of the evening. We had so much fun that we forgot to eat dinner, and between the massage toxins and the lack of food- well, let’s just say I felt sub-awesome on Sunday! Thankfully I recovered and was able to check out my little sisters new digs at USC (oh the memories!) and have some 21 choices. –see last weekend’s round up for renewed obsession. Then Steve and I tried something new called “kitchen karate”. Basically, we cooked up a whole bunch of food for the week. It was actually pretty fun! You spend 40 minutes chopping, 40 seasoning, and 40 cooking. It took us longer to cook because we were sharing bbq space on our roof, but all in all we really enjoyed it. It will also help cut down on the random restaurant nights during the week due to laziness our busy schedules. Definitely worth trying!

Some of my favorite people were in town this weekend, so I knew it would be a good one. The festivities started at the Buffalo Club in Santa Monica where my friend was having a birthday party. A fun spot- but so crowded! They also charge cover now which is new- and lame. I came straight from the airport so I was still in my work clothes and felt very out of place in line next to the 22 year olds in micro skirts. Apparently miniskirts are no longer short enough. After some celebratory drinks we headed to the ever classy, ever awesome, Gaslight to meet up with Lindsay and her boyfriend who are visiting from London. We always pick up right where we left off- which is usually dancing and laughing. After some good times and karaoke we headed home. Then Amanda rolled in from NYC round 2am and more fun ensued.

Saturday we woke up early and grabbed a latte at Syrup before whipping up some bacon and eggs. We decided to work it off and went to Eaton Canyon and hiked up to the waterfall. Steve and I had attempted to do so last year and ended up on an all day trek and somehow missed the falls! On the hike I was skeptical because there was no water anywhere, and then all of a sudden there it was. It was actually pretty impressive! After hiking to a waterfall it is definitely time to eat again so we went to 21 choices in Old Town Pasadena. After a long and grueling decision making process I ordered Vanilla with strawberries, nutella and peanut butter mixed in. I forgot how amazing that place is- which was probably a good thing.

The rest of the afternoon was spent lounging on the pool deck while planning some Morocco details and sipping on cocktails. Then we went to Alma for dinner. It’s a new restaurant downtown that Amanda’s friend had recommended. He told the owner we would be there and they treated us so well. Free drinks, free desserts and ALL the food was delicious! My favorite was a sweet corn soup and the rib eye which was so flavorful. We also tried pigeon which was “interesting”. I’m not the most adventurous eater but fun to say that I tried it! Highly recommend the restaurant which was just voted the #1 new restaurant in LA- well deserved. I also love that my NYC friend has more LA food hook ups than I do! After dinner we hit up Pattern bar and Las Perlas for some evening cocktails. The night ended as all good nights out do- with french fries. Four orders in fact. We only ordered two but Cole’s gave us regular instead of sweet potato, so we of course had to go back down and get the others. Gross and wonderful all at once.

Sunday we headed down to West LA and went to the Brentwood Farmers Market before brunchin at Brick and Mortar. A couple more friends met up with us and brunch was delightful- except that the DJ was so loud it was more like being in a club than a restaurant! Afterwards we walked around a bit before I had to say goodbye and head home to La Canada for my sisters birthday. She turned 21! That is crazy to me. In my head she is still my “little” sister. The baby. We welcomed her to the margarita club in good fashion and it was fun to catch up with the family.

Sunday night I got that horrible feeling of panic that the weekend was coming to an end. I sometimes think that if I could just have three day weekends every week I would be happy. Although I’m sure if I had three day weekends I would want four day weekends. I digress. As short as the weekend seemed, we had such a fun time in the mountains. One of my besties has a family cabin in Big Bear and we drove up Friday for a little couples getaway. We got there before they arrived and although she gave us the alarm code, I still managed to set off the alarm. The cops came and everything. A very dramatic and comedic start to our trip! Thankfully no arrests were made. The rest of the weekend was a whirlwind of wine, hikes, good eats, boating and game playing. It was a ton of fun and somehow very relaxing at the same time. There is something so peaceful about being out in nature, away from noisy city streets and smog. I love you DTLA but sometimes it’s nice to get away! Another thing I love is that we don’t get cell reception at the cabin. It was a good reminder of how dependent I can get on my phone. When I am lounging around at home I find myself constantly checking emails, or instagram, or facebook. Not having the option made me realize that it’s a distraction that I can and should cut back on. Oh- and I also learned that I am terrible at the card game Spades.